


Brooms at 2AM

by CaptainKirby



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Brooms, Fluff, Frustration, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 16:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5632729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainKirby/pseuds/CaptainKirby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People do different things when they can't sleep. Some read, others write, I know this one girl who just drives (which is weird because I know she has a curfew). But, back to the Avengers, Natasha Romanov balances brooms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brooms at 2AM

**Author's Note:**

  * For [that_one_kid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_one_kid/gifts).



> I hope your broom balancing goes well.

Tony heard a crashing sound come from the kitchen. This isn't an unusual thing; Clint, Natasha and Thor drop plates all the time. The problem was that it was two in the morning. That made it slightly weirder. He thought about going back to sleep, but got up instead. Crashing sounds late at night are never good.

He walked down stairs and rubbed his eyes. Slowly, the image of Natasha balancing a broom in the middle of the living room came into focus. Tony didn't know he owned a broom.

"Nat?"

She was startled into dropping the broom.

"Yes?" She didn't turn around to answer him.

"You're balancing a broom in my living room."

"You got a problem with that?"

"Not really... But can I know why?"

"Is this not what you do late at night?"

"Actually I usually drink vodka."

Natasha motioned to an empty bottle on the table.

"Fair point, but that doesn't explain the broom."

She put the broom on the tip of her fingers and started balancing it again, "It's relaxing."

"Really?"

"Have you ever tried balancing anything?"

"I have to balance my sanity with dealing with you guys."

Natasha laughed, and almost lost the broom. Tony poured himself a glass of vodka from a new bottle as he took a seat.

"So, being the considerate person I am, I'm going to ask. What's up?"

"Can't sleep."

"Figured that."

"It's just an old memory. It'll go away in another few hours."

"Is that how memories work?"

"You know, you can be quite the asshole late at night."

Tony downed the rest of his alcohol. "I try. And you know I'm going to keep being an ass until you tell me."

Natasha sighed as she moved a little bit to rebalance the broom. She must've been feeling tipsy, since it was taking all her focus to keep the broom upright.

"Fine. I'll tell you. You've screwed things up before, right?"

"I don't like to admit it, but yeah."

"Well, it's one thing when it's your fault. It's another thing when it's your handler's fault."

"Wait, is this a Budapest story?"

"No, Liverpool. Anyways, I was out with one of my contacts. We were just at a bar, nowhere special. Well, it didn't have any good liquor—"

"You mean they didn't have any vodka."

"Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Fine, please. Go on."

"I was asking about leads on my target and... someone just walked in and shot my contact. His name was Earl. He had children. My handler was supposed to have cleared the place and warn me if anyone was coming. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was when I pulled a gun on the murderer, and he showed me a Red Room Badge. Apparently Earl had been considered a threat, so they killed him on the spot. No questions asked." She told the story in a scary monotone. She also managed not to drop the broom.

"Was he a friend of yours?"

"What do you think?"

"No..."

"Wrong."

"It's not like it's your fault or anything," Tony threw his glass and knocked the broom off of Natasha's fingers, "Like that. All my fault."

She shot him a stinging look, "I know. I'm frustrated that there was nothing I could do."

"Well, then you just gotta pick up the broom and do better next time, am I right?"

"It doesn't quite work that way with the dead."

Tony got up and walked out of the room, "Tell Coulson that!"

Natasha stood there for a few moments and waited to hear the door to Tony's room shut. She couldn't help but smile. He was such an asshole. Natasha picked up the broom again, but with more gusto. It felt kind of like a competition now. Always gotta do better. It also helped that she had the faint feeling that someone had mastered the art of broom balancing before her.

 


End file.
